Whopping budget cuts means the Border Security Force cannot upgrade weapons or buy desperately-needed equipment.
This week, a jawan from the Border Security Force or BSF has been killed and another six inured in cross-border firing from Pakistan, the most serious in several years.
The army guards the Line of Control or LoC, which serves as the de facto border between India and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The international border, which is not disputed by the neighbours and runs along Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, is manned by the Border Security Force or BSF.
But a huge budget cut means that the BSF does not have the money to buy desperately-needed guns, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or night vision equipment.
Originally, the government had allocated about 2,500 crores for the last and current financial year for the BSF and five other paramilitary forces to replace obsolete equipment and buy new weapons. But now the government has decided to cut a whopping 2,000 crores. So just 90 crores has been made available for purchases.
Sources have told NDTV that the National Security Guards (NSG) the elite anti-terror force was given only 86 lakh this year for upgrading its weapons.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which guards our airports and nuclear institutions hasn't got any money at all to modernise its equipment.
Similarly, the BSF and Central Reserve Para-military Force (CRPF), which counts countering Naxal insurgents among its top priorities, have got 20 crores each for buying new weapons. "While we will continue with our duties whether on the Borders or anti- insurgency the budget cuts are crippling because we need to replace old weapons and get new weapon systems as security challenges are dynamic and therefore, constantly changing," a senior CRPF official told NDTV.